“If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges—how to get relative with the inevitable—you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.”
Matthew McConaughey
I’ve been thinking a lot about green lights lately.
Not the traffic kind, the life kind. The green lights that tell you you’re headed in the right direction, flowing with ease, following the path you were meant to lead.
Matthew MConaughey went way up in my esteem when he named his autobiography Green Lights.
According to the actor, activist, and all-around groovy dude, tuning in to this information is the basis of his success.
I’m a big believer that we’re not here to walk this life alone, nor without a compass. The universe, a higher being, call it what you will, is full of signposts if we’re willing to listen.
It took me a long time to start listening, and it’s a skill I’m still working on.
It’s all too easy to fall into habits that don’t necessarily serve us without even noticing. The day-to-day act of living is busy. It’s full of things we have to get done, that laundry list of life that can gobble up our whole being if we’re not paying attention.
But there are daily glimmers in there, too.
This is about following those glimmers, step by tiny step, ultimately to a life well-lived.
“The universe will bring you amazing adventures. Pay attention to which ones make your soul sing”.
Khalil Gibran
Green lights, it should be noted, don’t mean easy street.
Challenges come to us all. If we’re open to them, challenges can become life lessons. Life lessons are neither easy nor straightforward. And here’s the thing. You are virtually guaranteed to repeat these life lessons until you get it right.
Getting it right equals not only recognizing, but following those green lights: stepping into your own power, realizing your dreams, living your life on purpose.
Listening to Red Lights
Conversely, there are red lights in our midst.
A red light is when you follow the same pattern or habit that doesn’t work and keep going in this direction.
Have I fallen for more red lights than I can count? Absolutely.
But here’s the amazing thing about being 53 years young. I’m starting to figure this out. Yes, what life dishes up can sometimes be downright dreadful. On a universal and personal scale, life can be harrowing, and on some days, pulling the covers up around our ears and staying in bed feels like the best solution.
Yet there is personal choice on our journey. And it is in that space that we can start to notice where we are making our own lot more difficult than it needs to be.
“I love it when I realize I’m handling a situation better than my old self would have”.
@tinybuddha
Following green lights; a how-to guide
Let’s begin at the beginning. Noticing what works is an immense first step.
A few opportunities to tune into your green lights,
1. Following green lights begins with noticing the little things that work. What routines and daily habits already feel effortless? Which ones, with very little effort, can be tweaked to work better?
2. What do you absolutely love to do? Do more of that. What do you dread? Do less of that.
3. Check in with your intuition. Is something in your life just not working, no matter how much effort you put into it? Conversely, does a friendship, project, or circumstance feel easy and natural? Stop overthinking the ‘shoulds’ and follow that feeling in your gut.
4. Does a major life path feel very difficult? Ask yourself if anything about this path is moving you forward.
5. Check in with your life purpose. What is it? Are you taking any steps towards realizing it?
Do I have all the answers on this subject? Of course not.
I’m learning and muddling along as I go, just like most of us. By the way, I’m MUCH better at spotting green and red lights in other people than spotting my own.
But age does have its perks. This slow dawning that things don’t HAVE to be hard has taken me AGES to understand.
Now for the fun part.
Paying attention to green lights is all fine and good. But listening to them takes courage, faith in yourself, maybe just a sprinkle of pixie dust.
Here’s to that magic combination - and then trusting it will all be okay.
Hey folks! A quick word from your sponsor. If you liked this article, please press that little heart below. This lets me know I’m headed in the right direction - aka following my own green lights! Many thanks.
Love this. Thank you. ❤️
Thank you Laura!